Why you should invest in your blog (even though you might not think anyone reads it)

When I used to think of blogs, my first thought was always "Blog moms" who treated their blogs like a newspaper column that didn't require editing so they could post parenting tips and recipes to their hearts content, but that no one would actually read.

But that thinking changed when I learned that blogs can actually help your website be more likely to appear on a search engine and help show off expertise and knowledge to clients in a way that general website descriptions can't.

Generate website traffic

Continuous traffic source

Blogs can be a continuous source of content on your website, since your service offerings and about information don't change or get updated very frequently (and shouldn't). It tells Google that your site is active, which should in turn help to drive website traffic. So even if you were producing lame content, it would still probably help your rating.

Provides specific answers

Another reason blogs are helpful for generating site traffic is because often when someone is searching for an answer, they'll ask the search engine the question. Web content that seems the most helpful and likely to answer the question is what will show up. Information about your company, products and/or service offerings listed on your website, probably doesn't answer specific questions as directly as a blog post on that topic can. And when your blog is housed on your website, someone reading your blog is on your website. And if they find your blog helpful, they might find your services or products helpful too.

This brings me to the next point; blog posts help..

Create trust and credibility

Proof points

It's easy to say that you can do or you sell a bunch of wonderful things, but that doesn't show or prove it to your customers. Blog posts that display an understanding of a subject, case studies and portfolios that exhibit what you've done, provide proof. It takes consistency and proof to win over the hearts and minds of people.

Consistency

The quality of information in your blog posts matters, but unfortunately so does the consistency in posts. So as much as you want to polish something to be the best that it can be, it won't necessarily help if you can't keep a consistent cadence. Fortunately, blog posts aren't written in stone, they're written online and can be updated as time goes on. Which is also good news for you, because you can update and repost old blog posts to maintain posting consistency without always needing to invent something new.

How to make your blog posts better

The quick summary is; would you want to read this? If not, probably no one else does either. So here's a quick list on things to keep in mind with blog posts:

• Headings: they're are a big thing - they break up content and make it more scannable ie. easier/more likely to be read.

• Introduction: It helps communicate expectations and like exercising, is a nice warm up before you go deep into the content.

• Conclusion: This can be a number of things; a call to action, a summary of things learned, an application, etc. overall, it helps direct the reader back to real life (though they are now more enlightened from reading your post).

And that's pretty much it,

No need to over complicate things, just go and write! Keeping in mind that you're writing for your reader and for the search to find your post, so generate website traffic, answer questions your customers have, and create trust and credibility through proof points and being consistent. And then remember to make it easy to read and skimmable!

If this is something you don't want to worry about (you've got things you'd rather be doing) - I can help!